A day after working president of the opposition National Conference (NC) Omar Abdullah defined glaring contradictions on the Sainik colony proposal as a possible “ruse to settle non-state subjects” in the Valley, Congress workers held a protest in Srinagar, opposing Mehbooba Mufti Government.
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Hitting out at the concept of army colonies in the disputed state of Jammu Kashmir, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has cautioned that it is a “resist or breathe your last breath” like situation for the Kashmiri people and any carelessness on this sensitive occasion will prove a final nail in the coffin of state’s existence, identity and freedom struggle.
“There seems to be an uncanny similarity between what PDP did in 2008 and what the PDP-BJP Government is trying to do today with the “Sainik Colony” proposal”, he added. Considering their track-record over the past more than a year, people have serious apprehensions and rightly so.
Earlier in April 2015, the Rajya Sainik Board (RSB), headed by Governor N.N. Vohra, had approved establishment of a Sainik colony close to Srinagar’s old airport and subsequently 21.6 acres of land were identified for it and the proposal was sent to then Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, for his approval.
Omar said if the chief minister had “guts” and believed that the image, uploaded by him on Twitter of an order allegedly by State’s Home Department, was fake, she should immediately file a case against him.
Stung by the uproar, the state government Saturday issued a vaguely worded statement, saying that “no land has been allotted or is being allotted anywhere in Kashmir for any housing project in the name of “Sainik Colony”.
Akhtar yesterday refuted the reports on Sainik colony, terming them “highly motivated and parochial and are aimed at disturbing peace” in the state at a time when tourism and business activities have just started picking up.
Rebutting the allegations, Ms Mufti, who officially opened the Civil Secretariat in summer capital Srinagar for six months on Monday, said, “Neither a Chief Minister nor a Prime Minister of the country can dilute the special status of J&K”.
She said her father late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed had taken the right decision by forming the coalition after the 2014 assembly elections since that was the only way forward to ensure equitable development of all the regions of the state. B R Sharma said the efforts of the RSB should not been misconstrued because the Kashmiri ex-service men from far-flung areas have sought to have a colony in Srinagar or Budgam. “Anyone who is a state subject is free to live here”, deputy chief minister Dr Nirmal Singh said.
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On the issue of NEET, Mehbooba said, “The Supreme Court has said that there will be no interference as far as our special status is concerned”.
